Mane Attraction: MGM Grand Casino lion takes over Cadillac Tower

We always knew a bottle of Jack didn't last long.

Sure enough, the enormous Jack Daniels advertisement that recently adorned the Campus Martius-facing side of the Cadillac Tower is gone, replaced recently by a mammoth ad featuring the MGM Grand Casino lion.

No word on whether this was in response to community objections, similar to those voiced when Billy Dee Williams and his Colt 45 billboards dotted the city. But it wouldn't be surprising, considering the Campus Martius area is about host hundreds of families and children for another Motown Winter Blast.

In any event, the MGM ad is a cool-looking billboard, probably my favorite piece of signage to hang from the Cadillac Tower since Barry Sanders occupied the space years ago. Is it too early to start hoping a picture of Ndamukong Suh ends up there?

MGM Grand Detroit goes big to build its seasonal displays

Operating with a bigger-is-better mentality that's typical of casinos, the MGM Grand Detroit doesn't mess around when it comes to dressing up the corner of Bagley and Third Street.

Five times a year, the MGM Grand introduces a new seasonal display in what it calls the Grand Garden, a triangular grassy area fronting the casino that's accented by 50-foot Canadian birch trees.

For its fall display, the area features a winding patch of monstrous pumpkins with occasional enormo-rolls of hay. Throughout the year, the displays often feature lighting that really makes the corner look special at night. It's worth a quick drive-by if you ever find yourself downtown in the evening.

The Grand Garden is maintained by a company called Design Solutions, the same gang responsible for the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens at Bellagio in Las Vegas, as well as the holiday treatment given to Rockefeller Center in New York.